MY ACCOUNT
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has conceded injured forwards Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino will not be fit for the Premier League clash with Leeds United, and that both face a race against time to make Sunday’s EFL Cup final against Chelsea.
Jota, whose tally of 12 league goals for the season is bettered only by Mohamed Salah among Liverpool players, suffered a knock in last week’s Champions League win at Inter, while Firmino reported discomfort after the same fixture.
Both forwards sat out the Reds’ 3-1 Premier League win over Norwich, with fellow attackers Salah, Sadio Mane, and Luis Diaz all finding the net.
Ahead of a week in which Liverpool can close the gap to Manchester City in the Premier League to just three points, before looking to lift their first domestic cup since 2012, Klopp was not hopeful about the pair’s prospects.
“For tomorrow [Wednesday, against Leeds], no chance, and then [for] the final we will see”, Klopp said. “It would be easy to say ‘no’ now, but we will see.
“They are [pushing], but they were not on the training pitch [yet] so that’s not a good sign.
“We have to see what we can do with the boys in the next few days, and then make a decision later in the week.”
Liverpool, who have only failed to score in one of their last 23 meetings with Leeds in all competitions, netting in each of their last 16 in a row since a goalless draw in April 1999, will go within three points of City if they beat the Whites at Anfield, but Klopp was keen to highlight Leeds’ strengths before the contest.
“We saw all the faces of Leeds United on Sunday [in their 4-2 defeat to Manchester United],” he added.
“They are very brave and very exciting. Offensively, they go with everything they have. Defensively, you can cause them problems, but that is difficult as well, because of their man-marking all over the pitch.
“If you are not really up for the game, they will eat you.”
Klopp also stressed that he will not rest players for the visit of the Elland Road outfit, despite Sunday’s Wembley date marking Liverpool’s first domestic cup final since 2016.
“It doesn’t work for me, to have two or three games in my mind. We have to try everything for this game,” said Klopp.
“We made changes for the Norwich game not because of the Leeds game or the final, but because we needed fresh legs and more intensity.
“That’s exactly how we will do it now. The Premier League is the Premier League, you cannot rest somebody for the final. For me, it never worked out.”
